Counselling and coaching service launched

We’re pleased to have launched our wellbeing service including counselling and coaching. For a confidential chat about how we can support you, please get in touch with our dedicated Wellbeing Services Coordinator Kate.

You can email Kate – wellbeing@sightsupportworthing.org.uk or telephone her on 01903 385025.

We are delighted to be part of this month’s Tesco Community Grants Scheme. The scheme gives SSW the chance to secure valuable funds, in this case to support our mental health walk and talk sessions.

Voting starts in stores from the first week of July 2022 and continues until 30th September 2022. 

If you find yourself in a Tesco (our local participating stores are listed below), make sure that when you pay you ask for a token, and then place it in the relevant box.

Here are Worthing’s participating Tesco stores:

Findon Express BN14 0EL Dolphin Express Dominion Road BN14 8LBBroadwater Express BN14 9DADurrington Express BN13 1QYRectory Road Express BN14 7PE Goring Way Express BN12 4TY  South Farm Road Express BN14 7GA  Chapel Road Express BN11 1EG   West Durrington Extra BN13 3PB Goring Road Express BN12 4AJ  

You can check the locations here: http://www.tesco.com/store-locator/uk

Thank you!

Have you or a family member been diagnosed with sight loss? Share experiences with others in similar situations and find out about services available to you.

SSW is pleased to be partnering with the RNIB to offer a Living Well with Sight Loss course.

This free, informal course aims to help you increase your independence, boost your confidence and connect with others to share experiences. Through these sessions you’ll get practical advice, information and guidance on organisations, products and services out there to help you.

Join us: Living Well with Sight Loss Phone Group for residents of Worthing, West Sussex.

Where: Sight Support Worthing, 48 Rowlands Rd, Worthing, BN11 3JT

What: Covering many topics related to sight loss, with talks from ECLO, West Sussex Rehabilitation Officer, RNIB.

When: Thursday 12th and 19th May 2022, 10.30 – 3pm (Face to Face group)

This is a FREE group for West Sussex residents. It is suitable for adults of all ages, including friends, family members or anyone affected by vision loss. 

Each session covers a range of topics including:

Participants will also learn about other organisations and services that can provide support.

Book your place today!

Call the RNIB on 0303 123 9999 or visit rnib.org.uk/LivingWellWithSightLoss.

Email lwwslenquiries@rnib.org.uk if you have questions.

We are starting tech appointments on Monday afternoons. This is to give members an opportunity to book a face to face meeting with Ali, our tech adviser. We’re offering both individual or group bookings.

Ali can help you get to grips with the tech that you have and help you get the best out of its accessibility settings. She can also continue to support you afterwards as you learn about your tech device or other piece of equipment.

Here’s some of the ways Ali and the tech support service can help you:

Ali can help with various devices and pieces of tech equipment including

Plus anything else tech related you might need!

To book your slot, call the Centre on 01903 235782 or email  info@sswcharity.org.uk

Transport to the Centre can be provided if booked in advance.

 

If you’re a regular visitor to our blog, you’ll have seen our posts about our objectives for this year. If not, you might like to look back at the one about improving our communication with members and the one outlining our plans to develop our technology for VI service.

Our third post looks at our plans to reinstate popular activities for existing members and plan new ones to reach new participants.  

It goes without saying that our usual activities have been somewhat interrupted and different in the last 15 months or so. It now looks like we can start to return to in-person activities which gives us the opportunity to evaluate what we’ve previously offered (both pre-Covid and during the pandemic), what’s worth keeping and what new and exciting activities, groups or events we should offer.

So one aspect of this objective is to resurrect our regular schedule of events, both weekly or otherwise. We’ve already got our classical music group meeting back at the Centre, and the Art Group is currently experimenting with a hybrid face-to-face and Zoom based group. We’ve a trip to Cycall taking place shortly (and more planned!) and our weekly outings on the mini bus will start shortly. We are also planning to maintain our Chair Yoga sessions by Zoom each week. While in-person activities offer an added social aspect, online get togethers do suit people who aren’t able to get to the Centre for whatever reason. 

A Van Raam EasyGo Trike being used at Brooklands Park Worthing

In addition to our regular programme we’re also planning to provide activities for the over 30’s who outgrow the young persons’ VI charity support locally. We have noticed a gap in the availability of interesting, inspiring and accessible activities for the over 30’s and we’re looking at ways to fill that gap. If you are between 30 and 55 and interested in sports, music or any other hobbies – get in touch and we’ll look at what we can offer.

We’ve really missed seeing everyone when the Centre has been closed and it’s highlighted how much dropping into the Centre means to our members. The second part of this objective is to adapt the opening hours of the Centre based around the activities we offer. This may mean, for example, that we open longer into the evening to accommodate activities taking place later in the day. Younger members may be more likely to want to socialise in the evening if they’re busy with work or college in the day time. This will be a fluid process that will take time to settle in but we hope it will suit more people, more of the time! 

man assisting visually impaired woman on walk

We hope our plans sound exciting and we will keep you updated as new activities and events are planned. Don’t forget to provide feedback to any member of the team; we are here to provide services and support to our members and we want to get it right! 

We’re highlighting our objectives for the year in a series of blog posts. If you missed the first one (about improving our communication with members) you can catch up here. In this one, we’re focusing on how we’re going to develop our technology for VI service.

We’ve been offering some technology products for VI in the last couple of years but this is an aspect of our services that we really want to improve. Part of that effort is to keep up to date with assistive technology, as well as other relevant technologies. It’s one thing going out and buying a stack of ‘things’ but actually knowing what’s on offer, how each item works, the benefits or drawbacks of each product and making sure we’re recommending and buying products that will not be obsolete within six months is crucial.

With that in mind, we’re actively researching and testing products so we have the best choices to offer our members.

an older person and a child sharing a game on a tablet

Although our current team is excited about the prospect of learning more about technology for VI we’re aware that there are very few of us. For that reason, we’re recruiting both staff and volunteers who will be the ‘go to’ on VI tech issues. We’ll all make sure we’re up to speed but there will be specific people who are dedicated to assisting members make decisions about which tech to use, explaining how to use it and fixing problems, should they arise.

And it’s not just our people who will be key to this improvement; our Centre at Rowlands Road will be sufficiently equipped and resourced to provide training, tech support and guidance to members and guests.

Clearly, acquiring technology – whether for VI or otherwise – generally comes at a cost which not everyone is in a position to afford. The final aspect of our objective is to provide a loan-to-buy service for those who are unable to access devices on their own. This may be because cost is a factor but also because no-one wants to buy something that they not long after decide isn’t for them (but would suit someone else better). This format is perfect: try the product at home, and on a day-to-day basis (rather than just testing it in a shop or showroom) so you establish whether it’s right for you. When you decide it is what you’re after, there’s no need to hand it back, you just carry on using it seamlessly. We’re also securing discounts with suppliers so if you order through us or get a referral code, you’ll be able to make a saving on certain products. 

We hope that our technology for VI service will benefit a large number of our members and, perhaps, make aspects of their life easier and more pleasurable. We’re always keen to hear from members (and their families, friends or carers) to understand how we can best support independent living but, more than that, enhance enjoyment and fun too. If you’ve got suggestions you’d like us to explore, please do get in touch.

Kindle e-reader, coffee and notepad

To be honest, we only came across Ted Henter recently but we thought he was a great person to be our first VIP. We love the fact that he not only invented a brilliant product for the visually impaired, but then went on to become a top notch waterskiier.

Ted Henter is an American who, in 1978 aged 21, had a car accident that left him blind. In his early 20s he completed an Engineering background but after his accident he felt that opportunities for a blind engineer were limited. With this in mind, he took a series of courses with the aim of becoming a computer programmer. This led Ted to start developing some of the first talking computers for blind people in the early 80s.

Ted Henter’s most famous invention (so far!) is JAWS – Job Access With Speech. JAWS is a computer program that translates what’s on a computer screen into voice or Braille. Ted believed that being visually impaired should not stop you from living your life to its full potential. This translated into a desire to create a product to assist with finding work. Ted also worked on other assistive technologies for helping visually impaired people in everyday life.

And what of Ted’s waterskiing prowess? Prior to his accident, Ted was to become a professional motorcycle racer. With that no longer an option, he returned to a previous hobby of waterskiing which he triumphed at. Before his retirement in 1991 Ted won six out of seven competitions in the United States and scored two international wins. He also won the overall Gold medal in the United States and World Championship for Disabled Skiers.

What an inspiration! You can listen to an interview with Ted Henter here.

‘Providing the Jam’ is a fascinating look at the visually impaired community of Worthing, and focuses on the past 100+ years of support that Sight Support Worthing has provided.

The book was written by authors Chris Hare and Lela Tredwell, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund without whom this project would not have been possible.

The book can be purchased for £4.99 from our centre in Rowlands Road, or through Amazon Kindle, where it is also available for £4.99.